Roger Crab facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roger Crab
Roger Crab, as pictured in an 1813 edition of James Caulfield's Portraits, memoirs, and characters of remarkable persons, from the reign of King Edward the Third, to the Revolution, etc.
Born	1621 Buckinghamshire, England
Died	11 September 1680 (aged 59) Bethnal Green, London, England
Occupation	Soldier, haberdasher, herbal doctor and writer

Roger Crab (born 1621 – died 11 September 1680) was an interesting English person. He was a soldier, a seller of small sewing items (a haberdasher), a doctor who used plants, and a writer. Roger Crab is most famous for his very simple way of life. He chose to live without many things, including eating only plant-based foods.

Crab was a soldier in the Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War. After the war, he worked as a haberdasher in a town called Chesham. Later, he decided to live as a hermit, which means living alone and simply. He also became a doctor who used herbs to help people. He joined a group called the Philadelphians and wrote books about living a simple life.

Roger Crab's Early Life and Beliefs

Roger Crab was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1621. From a young age, he wanted to live a perfect life. When he was 20, in 1641, he stopped eating meat, dairy products, and eggs. He also chose not to marry.

Roger Crab in the English Civil War

When the English Civil War started in 1642, Roger Crab joined the army fighting for Parliament. This army was led by Oliver Cromwell. During one battle, he was badly hurt in the head by a sword. At one point, Cromwell even sentenced him to death, but he was not executed. Later, Parliament sent him to prison for two years. Some people think he was involved with a group called the Levellers and that this led to his imprisonment.

Roger Crab's Career and Simple Living

After leaving the army, Crab moved to Chesham and worked as a haberdasher from 1649 to 1652. In 1652, he moved to Ickenham and began living as a hermit. He believed that making a lot of money was wrong. So, he gave away almost everything he owned before moving.

Becoming a Herbal Doctor

In Ickenham, Roger Crab became a popular herbal doctor. He told his patients to avoid meat and alcohol. Many women in the village liked his advice. However, a clergyman accused him of witchcraft. This might have been because Crab made predictions about the future. He tried to live a very simple life, even wearing clothes made from rough sackcloth. In 1657, he moved to Bethnal Green and joined the Philadelphians, a religious group started by John Pordage.

Roger Crab's Unique Views

Roger Crab had some very strong and unusual beliefs. He did not think Sunday should be a day when no one worked. Because of this, he was sometimes put in the stocks, a device used for public punishment. He also believed in pacifism, which means he was against all war and violence. He had strong opinions about owning property, the Church, and universities.

Crab believed that eating meat was the reason humans fell from grace in the Bible. He thought it caused aggression. From 1641 until he died, he ate a vegan diet. At first, he ate potatoes and carrots. Later, he mainly ate bran and turnips. Towards the end of his life, he ate only Rumex (a type of plant) and grass. He claimed to spend very little money on food each week. He later added parsnips to his diet.

Roger Crab's Writings

Roger Crab wrote a book about his own life while he was living in Ickenham.

• The English hermite, or, Wonder of this age. (1655): This book tells the story of Roger Crab's life. It explains his unusual way of living, where he believed it was wrong to eat any meat, fish, or animal products. He also avoided wine, ale, or beer. The book says he could live on very little money each week. His food was roots, herbs, bread, and bran. His clothes were made of sackcloth. It mentions he left the army, had a shop, and then gave away his money to the poor.
• Dagons-Downfall; or, the Great idol digged up root and branch (1657): In this book, he wrote that the Sabbath (Sunday) had become like an idol.
• Gentle correction for the high flown backslider, or, A soft answer to turn away strife (1659): This was a general answer to questions and criticisms from some people called Quakers.
• A tender salutation, or, The substance of a letter given forth by the Rationals, to the despised remnant and seed of God, in the people called Quakers (1659).

Another person named George Salter wrote a reply to Crab's Gentle Correction in 1659.

An answer to Roger Crabs printed paper to the Quakers. And likewise to his principles and doctrines, whose spirit is tried and found in the dark. Which is to be directed again to Roger Crab and his followers, who cryed up his paper; that they may learn wisdom to preserve them in innocency, in the power of God, in which there is no confusion.

Roger Crab's Death and Legacy

Roger Crab died in 1680 at the age of 59 in Bethnal Green. He was buried at Stepney Churchyard. His tombstone has a special poem called an epitaph:

Tread gently, reader, near the dust
Committed to this tomb-stone's trust:
For while 'twas flesh, it held a guest
With universal love possest:
A soul that stemmed opinion's tide,
Did over sects in triumph ride;
Yet separate from the giddy crowd,
And paths tradition had allowed.
Through good and ill reports he past,
Oft censured, yet approved at last.
Wouldst thou his religion know?
In brief 'twas this: to all to do
Just as he would be done unto.
So in kind Nature's law he stood,
A temple, undefiled with blood,
A friend to everything that 's good.
The rest angels alone can fitly tell;
Haste then to them and him; and so farewell!'

The historian Christopher Hill thought that Roger Crab might have been the idea for the character of the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's famous book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Selected Publications

• The English Hermite, Or, Wonder of this Age (1655)